October 14, 2009

Bulls-T'Wolves postgame potpourri

MINNEAPOLIS --- Here are some postgame thoughts and observations from the Oct. 14 preseason victory over the Timberwolves.

Wanna go glass half-full or glass half-empty?

Playing the starters extensively, the Bulls shot 65 percent and tallied seven assists in opening a 32-16 lead after the first quarter.

John Salmons, who had shot poorly in back-to-back games, scored nine points. Luol Deng also rebounded from some poor shooting nights with eight points.

So the fourth-quarter collapse, in which the Bulls blew an 11-point lead before rallying, isn’t that worrisome.

Deng and Kirk Hinrich didn’t play at all, Salmons and Joakim Noah played 1:38 and Taj Gibson played 2:53.

In fact, Chris Richard, James Johnson and Derrick Byars scored all 21 points.

“I’d like to see us play better defense without fouling,” coach Vinny Del Negro said. “But we did have a lot of different lineups out there because of our injuries. We need to get a couple guys healthy and get Brad (Miller) back (from the flu) and get back to practicing and get a more consistent rotation down.”

Richard, who will be a training camp casualty at some point, finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Sixes were wild for Gibson, who fouled out with six points and six rebounds and, of course, six fouls.

Gibson, for all his activity and hustle, has shown a tendency to be foul-prone. But Del Negro excuses the rookie for a valid reason.

“Taj helps so much on defense that he’s picking up fouls that way,” Del Negro said.

For the second straight game, James Johnson looked lost and floating around the perimeter for three quarters, then finished strong. Johnson scored all nine of his points and snagged six of his 10 rebounds in the fourth quarter.

“He’s got to tighten his game up in a lot of areas,” Del Negro said. “But he’s a rookie and they usually make mistakes. James has to understand things a bit better, keep working and develop.”

Luol Deng said he never before had dislocated a finger. Nevertheless, he popped his left pinky finger back into place himself after a Noah pass caused the injury late in the third quarter.

Deng, who played 22 minutes, said he could’ve played more. But Del Negro saw no reason to risk it.

“I wanted to get him some rest so we can get a good practice (Thursday),” Del Negro said. “We need practice time.”

Joakim Noah, offensive hero?

For all the talk of Noah’s improved jumper, he continues to score off hustle plays, activity around the basket and dive cuts off high screen-and-rolls. Noah sank seven of eight shots for his 14 points and added seven rebounds in another strong performance.

“I feel very comfortable,” Noah said. “I’m touching the ball a lot more at the pinch post (elbow). It’s a good action, especially when Lu cuts off me. That will really work during the season. We can play off that a lot because Lu is our biggest threat in terms of demanding a double-team in the post.”

Noah posted just one assist, but it was a beaut, taking two dribbles from the elbow, drawing the defense and feeding Jannero Pargo in the corner.

“My decision-making is solid, but with plays like that you have to be careful because if he doesn’t get a shot off, the offense is out of whack,” Noah said. “So you have to pick and choose. But sometimes people back off me so I have to keep the defense as honest as possible and stay aggressive. It’s a fine line.”

Noah then joked that as soon as Derrick Rose returns from injury, his role will be to get out of the way. But Noah clearly has improved at the offensive end.

Speaking of Rose, he plans to try to suit up for Thursday’s practice, but it’d be a surprise if he’s cleared to do so. The guard is lamenting his absence for rhythmic reasons, as well as conditioning issues.

“I need to get out there to help us all get into a rhythm,” Rose said. “We need to gel quickly.

“I’ve been doing conditioning stuff on the bike and swimming but there’s nothing like playing. I need to get in game shape. I’m going to warm up and tape Thursday and put on my ankle brace and see how it goes from there.”

Stats and stuff: The Bulls reverted to their turnover-prone ways with 21 miscues, which the Timberwolves converted to 28 points. They also committed a staggering 35 fouls, which led to 49 free-throw attempts for Minnesota. They racked up 21 second-chance points and shot 43 percent from three-point land.

Comments

please stop interviewing 'deng-it'. i know he's your only source. it doesn't seem like the other players want to talk to u. OK, he had a fracture but i believe it was a hairline variety. please don't make excuses for him, cuz he makes all the excuses anyways. he seemed OK at duke, albeit for only one year. he was quiet the first couple of years with the bulls. but, eversince the big contract - just excuses. i do want to comment on the bulls themselves but u always have to bring 'deng-it' to the forefront. i want to start the countdown to 'deng-it's exit out of chicago and also yours. everybody on board follow me.

Del Negro stating Taj Gibson's fouls are simply occurring because he plays so much help defense either indicates a lack of candor or a lack of understanding about defensive play. When Taj defends guys on the block or mid post area he seems to use his lateral quickness effectively as in the Milwaukee home game. But when he guards a crafty of star offensive player who uses a lot of fakes or run at him from the top of the key he fouls every time. He needs to be taught when and where to plant(directly in the path of the basket) to take the charge. He also needs to remain in his down stance, and use his footwork to stay directly in front of his man down low, and not bite on pump fakes. With his long arms(7'3) reach he can respond to someone actually leaving the floor, and still be in position to block or disrupt. Taj obviously has the lateral quickness and desire to be a very good defender with Pac-10 defensive player of the year, and all time shot blocker on his resume. As for Johnson his lateral quicks are too slow currently to cover NBA threes. He really needs team help on D to play that position, and looked good in the Jazz game playing at the PF spot against bigger guys like Okur and Boozer.

I agree with the post from ja about Chris Richard. Wouldn't he be a more productive "big" than Aaron Gray? Granted, as big as he is, he doesn't have Gray's size, but he can give points, rebounds and some aggression. In the long run it seems to me that Aaron Gray gives the team less than Richard. What think ye?

Perhaps one of my problems on Richard is that I never really took his chances to make the team seriously so I didn't watch him closely. I was talking to an NBA scout last night who said, "He's close, but he's not an NBA player." I think if Bulls keep anyone, it will be Byars.